What's With Simmons' New 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' Mission?

Man, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. sure knows how to pack a punch with a cliffhanger, doesn't it? After an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. featuring Simmons recovering from her months-long forced hiatus to an alien planet, things seemed to be improving as she coped with the trauma and adjustment to life back at home. Heck, Fitz even cleared out a restaurant for her to take her on the romantic date he promised before the whole monolith/portal incident. Things were looking about as good as we could have hoped for given the circumstances — until she dropped the bomb on us. Simmons needs to return to the alien planet she was trapped on, and has yet to reveal why.

We don't know much about Simmons' time on the alien planet, aside from the fact that she was clearly fleeing something. Heck, we don't even really know how long she was stuck there for — time may even run differently where she was (her hair appeared to have grown, but we don't know if the same amount of time passed on Earth as it did wherever she was). All we really know is that she came back suffering from severe PTSD... so whatever reason she needs to go back, it must be a pretty darn big one. What could possibly be so important she'd risk all that torment and danger? Let's speculate.

She Might Have Powers Now

Simmons spent much of Season 2 building up a pretty large mistrust of the superpowered community — she came to accept them a bit more once she came to terms with Skye/Daisy's new abilities, but it would still be quite an adjustment for her if she came back from the alien planet with powers. After all, she did exhibit what may have been heightened senses (though it could have been the show's way of highlighting her PTSD) and if she gained some, they could be part of the explanation behind why she wants to return.

She's Probably Not A Pod Person

What with her hypersensitivity to external stimuli (which, again, could definitely be part of her PTSD) and her inexplicable desire to return to the planet she was trapped on for months, many AoS fans have been worried that Simmons may have been replaced by a facsimile — but Elizabeth Henstridge herself has nipped the rumor in the bud. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she revealed (with slight reservation), "I mean, as far as I know it’s Simmons. She’s definitely changed, but this is her." Henstridge also talked at length about how Simmons' PTSD will impact her story arc this season... which wouldn't exactly make much sense for a pod person, right?

She Might Need To Return For Someone

We know that people have been disappearing into the monolith for centuries — could there be other survivors? When we saw her, Simmons was alone, but it's definitely feasible that there might have been other humans (or, indeed, Inhumans) similarly stranded on the planet. We still don't know quite how Simmons was able to survive for months — perhaps she had help.

She Might Need To Return for Something

At one point during the brief clip we got of her on the alien planet, Simmons did something rather peculiar — she seemed to notice a wound on her forehead, which she promptly covered over with mud. Could the planet's mud have special healing properties that make it worth returning for? There are a lot of potential reasons she used the mud as a kind of poultice — perhaps it was even to mask the scent of her blood (after all, something was stalking her), and it's not necessarily anything special... but there's got to be some reason S.H.I.E.L.D.'s creative team opted to show her utilizing the planet's resources in such a strange fashion.

There's also the fact that Simmons is a scientist — she told Fitz that she turned purely to survival mode while stranded, but if there's something worth studying, you can bet she's the kind of person who'd go back for it. Hopefully if Simmons does go back, she'll bring some S.H.I.E.L.D. support with her this time.

Images: Justin Lubin, Kelsey McNeal/ABC